Douglas Desjardins remembered by family

When Douglas Desjardins wanted to know that his son was safe, he checked his MySpace page. His son, an Iraq soldier from Mesa, often visited the social networking Web site to keep in touch with friends and family back home.

By looking to see when his “Dougie” had last logged on, Desjardin could always rest assured the 24-year-old man was OK.

But this time he wasn’t.

The soldier hadn’t logged on in more than a week, and now the young man’s page is only visited by the friends and loved ones who miss him.

Douglas Desjardins, Jr., died Sunday in Al Ramadi, Iraq from fatal injuries suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his M1A1 Abrams tank during combat operations, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Defense.

“He enjoyed driving his tank,” the father said. “Out of all the choices he was given, that’s what stuck out to him. And that’s how he died … driving a tank.”

The younger Desjardins, whom the soldiers called “DJ,” was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 37th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Ray Barracks in Giessen, Germany.

His death came three days after another Valley soldier died. Staff Sgt. Jason D. Whitehouse, 27, of Phoenix was killed while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. He was assigned to 2nd Intelligence Battalion, II Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.

The older Desjardins said his son knew he wanted to go into the military, and decided on the Army after looking at all the branches. He had been on active duty for two years.

DJ was adventurous and a “people person,” his father said. He would “give a stranger the shirt off his back if he knew it would help.”

Also, he loved the Phoenix Suns and would try to attend games whenever he was home.

DJ’s other real love was driving tanks. The soldier had recently been promoted to gunner but still wanted to drive tanks.

The older Desjardins recalled how proud his son was after completing a training exercise.

“He used to brag,” Desjardins said. “He would say how he saw a wild pig and shot it with his tank. He shot it with a big .50-caliber gun on his tank.”

DJ was born in Mesa and attended Carson Junior High School, where he was on the wrestling team. He attended Westwood High School during his sophomore year but graduated from Scio High School in Oregon.

Although he grew up being called “Dougie,” he didn’t like the name and preferred his military name, “DJ.” His family joked that he probably thought his childhood nickname was “wussie.”

On his MySpace page, the soldier’s “smart” sarcastic sense of humor shines through, and his message board shows how much he was loved.

“DJ, I have no words for how sad we are right now,” writes one soldier. “I hope to see you again when I take that long nap.”

“I don’t know how we will go on without you being a part of our lives,” writes another friend named Lisa. “It’s not fair. It’s not fair that it was you.”

The older Desjardins said the last time he heard his son’s voice was more than a month ago through heavy static. The phone calls were sporadic. So, to keep in touch, Desjardins bought the soldier a laptop computer.

“He would call me whenever he could,” Desjardins said. “But with the computer, we could always tell, 'OK, he’s fine, he’s been on MySpace.’”

From the East Valley Tribune

Related Link:
Douglas C. Desjardins killed by I.E.D.